Comparing the stocks is like weighing regular beer against light beer. An investor should select the one that best suits his taste. Fundamentally, little separates the two. Their fortunes are determined by the performance of the brewing company, whose headline brands include Heineken's namesake brew, along with Sol, Newcastle Brown Ale, and Amstel Light. But the holding company's shares are much more illiquid. The average daily trading volume of is roughly one-fifth of the brewing company's. Consequently, Heineken Holding historically has traded at a discount of about 13% to its cousin.

The flip side: The holding company offers a higher dividend yield. It also currently offers long-term investors a potentially more attractive play because the discount has widened to 17% since last year, a reaction to the high price that Heineken NV paid to buy out minority shareholders in
Asia Pacific Breweries
(A46.Singapore). Heineken NV slapped down $4.6 billion for control of the maker of Tiger and Bintang lagers—17 times the ratio of enterprise value to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization. The tab was steep, but the deal will help Heineken boost the proportion of its earnings generated from fast-growing emerging markets to 45% from 40%. At the same time, the proportion of profit it gets from the struggling markets of Western Europe will fall to about 34% from 37%, although volumes appear stable and pricing is improving. Input costs should fall in 2013. The profit margin should rise steadily, from about 14%, to a range of 15% to 16%. Heineken NV is expected to earn 3.27 euros ($4.45) per share in 2013 on sales of more than €20 billion, compared with €2.83 on sales of more than €18 billion in 2012. The company will report 2012 earnings on Feb. 13.

At Friday's closing price of €44.55, Heineken Holding had a market value exceeding €12.5 billion and trades at 13.4 times forecast 2013 earnings. It pays a dividend yield of 2%. The share price could rise to €49.62 in the next 12 months, according to the consensus of analysts' estimates, although Bernstein Research has a price target of €58.30, suggesting upside of 33%. "We believe long-term holders would find relatively more value in Heineken Holding, given the current discount," says Bernstein analyst Trevor Stirling.

In contrast, the brewing company's more liquid shares are more expensive, trading at about 16 times forecast 2013 earnings. They closed Friday at €53.09, giving Heineken NV a stock-market value of almost €30 billion, and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Bernstein reckons the shares can rise to €67, producing a potential return of more than 25%. Both stocks offer good value. Shareholders just need to decide which will wet their whistles.

LAST WEEK, EUROPEAN SHARES declined, with the Stoxx Europe 600 off 0.53%, to 288.20.